The Stranger
by rosemusic20
Summary: When Mindy discovers a letter on her pillow from a mystery man whom she apparently slept with, she enlists Danny to help her track him down. Chaos ensues due to the fact that Danny may know more about her mysterious lover than he is letting on. Switching back and forth between points of view.
1. Chapter 1

Danny opened his eyes, blinking several times before gazing at the ceiling. He cracked his neck to both sides, slowly twisting his whole body under the covers, and then refocused his gaze on the ceiling. _I don't remember falling asleep last night._ He thought cordially, adding no meaning to the statement what so ever. However, after staring at the ceiling for a few moments he blinked again, this time out of confusion. _Is that my ceiling?_ He shook his head quickly hoping he was just imagining things, but the ceiling remained tinted ever-so-slightly blue, unlike his pure white ceiling at home. It took him a second to become aware of the other body in the bed. He almost leaped out of bead when he noticed the pull of the sheets, and the additional warmth radiating from the person next to him. _What the hell did I do last night?_ He couldn't fully bare to look at who ever his one-night-stand had been, so he slowly rolled out of bed. He slumped over to the pile of clothes in a folded pile in the corner; _At least I am still neat when I'm drunk_; and slipped them on slowly, so as not to wake the mystery person, who he was still skillfully avoiding looking at. All his efforts were almost foiled when he turned around, resting his eyes on the familiar face.

"Mindy?" The words fell out before he slapped his hand over his mouth. He stumbled backwards, slamming into a chest of drawers and knocking something onto the floor. Whatever it was shattered, sending several large pieces of glass across the floor. "Shit." Danny whispered, tiptoeing over the glass. He had had made quite a ruckus but when he glance over at Mindy she was still sound asleep. He took note of soft smile that rested on her face, but ignored the feeling in the bit of his stomach that the smile gave him. He made his way out of the bedroom to find something to clean up the pieces of glass with, but was unsuccessful. _Does this woman even own a broom?_ He thought, bending down and cautiously picking up the pieces glass, which was covered in painted flowers. He found his briefcase and slowly dropped the pieces into the one of the compartments of the bag. He poked his head back into the bedroom, gazing at Mindy's peaceful smile for the second time that morning. He shook his head, pushing away what ever thought might have been bubbling up. He pulled from his briefcase a pad of paper, and scribbled a note on it. He messed up the first time, accidently signing his name, so he crumpled up the note and rewrote it. Before, leaving the apartment, Danny placed the note on the pillow next to Mindy's head. He slammed the door.

He took the elevator to the first floor and walked out of the apartment complex he had been to so many times before but had never rushed out of so fast. He walked swiftly down the road and stopped in a store to order a beagle. After waiting in a strenuously long line, Danny sat down and attempted to push the morning's thoughts out of his head by drowning his sorrows in cream cheese.

"Excuse me." He glanced up from his breakfast to see a girl who looked to be in her early twenties, twisting a piece of hair in her fingers. "Do you have the time?"

"Um yeah, hold on." Danny lifted up the sleeve of his shirt. His wrist was empty. "Shit." He whispered.

"What did you say?" The girl smiled and blinked. "Six?"


	2. Chapter 2

Mindy walked slowly back into her bedroom with a bowl of cereal, ready to sit back and enjoy a breakfast in bed. _Is it bad that I have only been up for less than five minutes and I am already eating?_ She pushed the thought away and buried herself back under the covers. She felt something cold on her leg and stuck her had under the blanket, pulling out a gold men's wrist watch. _Whose watch is this? It's nice._ She admired the style of the watch as she balanced it delicately on her knee. She glanced around the rest of her bed, in search of some indication as to the owner of the watch. Her eyes fell on a piece of paper. She grabbed it off of the pillow next to her and let her eyes roll over it.

_Dear Mindy,_

_I had an amazing time last night, though I have to admit I don't really remember much of it. I wish with every bone in my body that we could have more than just that one fleeting moment together but unfortunately, my present circumstances do not permit it. Don't worry, Mindy, I am not married or engaged or dating anyone. I just can't be with you. I hope that you had as good of a time last night as I did. To be honest, I really wish that this was meant to be, but I don't think that it is._

_Love,_

_The Stranger_

Mindy's mouth fell open slowly, however she quickly closed it as she felt drool slowly forming. She stared at the note for a few more seconds, before jumping up out of the bed. She quickly finished her bowl of cereal and went straight to getting dressed. She was in the middle of changing when she heard a knock at the front door. _Maybe that's him!_ She started to change her shirt and pants as she peered through the window in the door to see who it was.

"Ugh, Danny." She said, opening the door, "I don't need to change for you."

"Oh, morning Min, I just came by to—" She could hear the hesitation in his voice and raised her eyebrows. "See if you were okay." He finished, "You seemed pretty zonked last night."

"Zonked?"

"Yeah, like drunk."

"That's not a thing."

"It is too."

"No, Danny, it isn't."

"Fine, whatever." Danny cut off their banter. "You seemed really _drunk_ last night, and you left the party with some random doctor."

"I did what?" Mindy asked, her eyes popping out of her head. _Oh my god, it is all falling into place. The Stranger, the doctor I get it. It is some guy I met at the party._

"You-"

"No I heard you." Mindy frowned pensively, pondering whether or not she liked the idea of having a one-night-stand that she didn't remember at all. "That does sort of make sense." She said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Danny's eyebrows rose up.

"I mean, I found this on my pillow this morning." She ran into the other room and returned with the note, handing it to Danny. "Look isn't that strange, but kind of romantic."

Danny scratched his eyebrow, "Sort of, yeah."

"Look," She said pulling the paper back into her hands. "It has a cartoon dinosaur on it. Isn't that funny? Sort of lame, but cute."

"Yeah, sure." Danny said, glancing around her into the bedroom behind her.

"Danny, do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"Um," He hesitated. "That depends. Your underwear isn't all over the floor in there are they?"

"No." Mindy laughed

Danny moved around her into the bedroom. She sat and read the note again, sighing.

He came back looking relieved, and said. "Well, as long as you're fine, I should probably get going."

"No!" Mindy yelped. "I want to show you something. He left his watch." She ushered him back into the bedroom and over to her nightstand, where she had left the watch. It wasn't there. "Um, I am sure it was here somewhere." She said bending under the bed. "Oh well, I give up. He left this gorgeously styled gold wrist watch here, and I thought maybe since you have a watch, you might be able to track down who it belonged to."

"Mindy, watches don't work that way." Danny laughed, "Besides, it doesn't look like there is a watch here. Maybe you imagined it."

"No, I am pretty sure that it is here somewhere." Mindy frowned. "Eh, I'll look for it later. Have a seat." She said gesturing towards the bed.

"Okay." Danny said slowly."

"Close your eyes I am going to change."

"Maybe I should just go."

"No, I need your help."

"Changing?"

"Oh, god no. I need your help tracking down my anonymous lover." Mindy said pulling a different shirt out of her closet. "Now, close your eyes."

Danny did as told and lay back on the bed his eyes closed. "Mindy it isn't like I haven't seen your boobs before."

"Danny!" Mindy yelped.

"I mean, I did give you a breast exam once."

"Oh yeah." Mindy pulled her shirt over her head. "Alright you can open your eyes."


	3. Chapter 3

Danny opened his eyes, and stared at Mindy's ceiling for the second time that morning. _Only she doesn't know that. She thinks she slept with some random stranger last night._ He sat up. She wasn't finished changing. He felt that knot in his stomach again.

"Close your eyes!"

"You said you were finished."

"I changed my mind about what shirt to wear."

"Well, put something on." Danny averted his eyes, feeling his shoulders tighten.

"Fine." Mindy threw her pajama shirt back on. "Happy?"

"Yes actually." Danny relaxed, satisfied.

"Okay," Mindy began pacing the floor. "So, where should we start?"  
"You mean, where should _you_ start." Danny corrected. He thought for a moment. _How can I lead her down the completely wrong path?_ "You could start by going through the program of all the doctors who spoke at the convention yesterday. Most of them were at the party."

"Brilliant Danny." Mindy looked as if she were about to hug him, but instead walked straight passed him and over to her briefcase. She rummaged through it to find the program. Upon pulling it out and looking at it, she frowned.

"What?" Danny asked.

"There are like twenty of them. How will I ever track them all down?" She sighed.

"Welp," Danny thought. _How does one track down a bunch of doctors in New York City?_ "Got it, be their patients."

"I don't get it." Mindy stared blankly at him.

"You set up appointments which each of the doctors, and pose as a patient."

"Danny these are really important doctors, they are going to be booked for weeks." Mindy said, "And, besides, this one is an oncologist, I could never pass for a cancer patient. And I don't even know what this guy looks like

"I'll do it with you." Danny smiled, surprised at the warmth in his voice. "I saw him leaving with you. I will probably recognize him."

"Really?" Mindy moved closer to him.

"Yeah." He was painfully aware of the distance between them closing. Their toes were almost touching.

She coughed and moved away. "Great! I have a feeling Danny, this guy might be the one."


	4. Chapter 4

Danny helped Mindy book every single appointment, and accompanied her to each one. They crossed off each person on the list, one at a time. Each appointment they would go in together, acting like a husband and wife, and afterwards Danny would tell her whether or not the doctor was her mystery man. It hadn't been yet, but she was still hopeful. She tried to squander the idea that she had actually been having fun, but it was impossible. So she admitted that she indeed could have a good time with her stubborn coworker. Danny had even reluctantly agreed to get a colonoscopy. Getting through the first half of the list took several weeks, what with her busy schedule and the fact that some of the doctors were extremely popular. But by week four, the pair had eliminated all but three of the speakers.

"Mindy, you ready to go?" Danny asked, leaning on the door of her office.

She glanced up from her desk. "Do we have to?" She whined. "I have been dreading this one."  
"Why?"

"Because it's at an OBGYN."

"And?"

"Well, what if this guy is a better doctor than me, and he is all stuck up about it. Then even if he is the one, it doesn't matter because he is a jerk and I will never find love again."

"First of all, it probably isn't even our guy."

She noticed the way he said _our_ guy, instead of _your_ guy, and suppressed a smile.

"And second of all, you are great at dealing with jerks."

"Yeah, I suppose your right. I mean, look at you. You're a huge jerk."

Danny laughed. "And look how well you deal with me. You deiced me."

She allowed herself to smile and stood up. "It's just sort of hard I guess," She said honestly, "I still haven't found him and it has been a month."

"You'll find him Min."

"I hope so." She grabbed her coat off of the rack and followed him out the door. "It's weird. It's like I already love him." She glanced at the floor. There was silence. She looked up at Danny.

He was staring at the floor with an unreadable expression. "Um, Mindy," He said quietly "Do you want to get dinner tonight?"

"Yeah." Mindy smiled. She felt her breath catch in her throat.

"As friends of course." Danny regained his composure as he pressed the button on the elevator.

"Of course." Mindy agreed. She sighed.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Any where is fine." Mindy stepped into the elevator. A thought occurred to her and she added, "Actually, can we not go to that one Italian place on 9th street. I went there on Friday and I had the worst food poisoning this weekend."

"Yeah, sure."


	5. Chapter 5

"I am so nervous." Mindy said as they sat in the waiting room.

"Why?"

"Because, I know that I'm not pregnant."

"Yeah, so?" Danny didn't know what exactly to say to her. His mind was elsewhere. He was formulating a plan of what exactly to say to her at dinner. "You didn't think you had cancer either."

"Yeah, so, I can't lie to a fellow OBGYN." Mindy insisted. "It feels like I am breaking my own laws."

"Calm down okay." Danny put his arm on her shoulder instinctively, then became so aware of the closed gap between them he could barely breathe. _What is it with me? It's like every time I touch her it means something. It never used to be like this._ "And remember, we are married and already have one child."

"No, we discussed this." Mindy glared at him. "There is no way I could pass for a mother. I don't look old enough. We are expecting our first and have been trying for a year."

"Fine, okay."

They sat in silence.

"Mr. and Mrs. Castellano?" A secretary called.

"That's us." Danny said.

They followed a nurse back into the examination rooms.

"Have a seat." The nurse said, pointing Mindy over to the prenatal examination chair in the center of the room. Mindy hopped into the chair and Danny stood next to her. "I'll go fetch Dr. Marcuse. He'll be with you in a moment."

They were left alone together. He hated the fact that it felt so awkward. He hated that he felt so protective, towering over her like this. He pushed what ever thought he was having to the back of his mind when the doctor arrived.

"Hi, Mrs. Castellano." He was tall, in an intimidating way.

Danny glanced up at him. _How can this guy be a doctor? He probably scares all his patients away._

"Hi, Mr- I mean Dr. Marcuse." Mindy stuttered.

"I understand that you think you might be pregnant." Only now did Danny notice the accent. It was something European, most likely.

"Yeah." Mindy sighed.

"Let me just take a blood test." The doctor began preparing the needle. He smiled back in their directing. "Are you at all squeamish ma'am."

"Oh no, I am a doctor too." Mindy smiled. "If fact I too and am an- Ow." She yelped at the sight of the needle coming closer to her arm. "Get that thing away from me."

"You are a what?" The doctor looked at her.

"I am an OBGYN. I work pretty nearby here actually." Mindy continued. "Can you not take this blood test? I already know what the results are going to be. I'm not-"

"Done." Dr. Marcuse backed away. "Would you like a band aid?"

"Yes please."

Danny could tell that he was out charmed by far. _This guy is like Jeremy on steroids._ He stood helplessly in the corner, while Marcuse gently placed a band aid on Mindy's arm.

"I'll be back soon with your results."

"Great, thank you."

The doctor left the room.

Mindy looked expectantly at Danny.

"What?"

"Is that him?"

Danny shook his head.

"Really? He was so nice though!"

"Yeah, whatever."

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I am going to ask him out."

His stomach knotted. "He thinks you're married."  
"I'll tell him the whole story." Mindy insisted. "I am done looking for this guy. He is a jerk for not leaving contact information. He doesn't know what he is missing."

_I think he does._ "Yeah." Danny frowned. He tried to swallow by it got stuck in his throat. "You know, I think I am going to go. I'll leave you alone to make your move."

"Thanks Danny you're the best."

Danny started to leave.

"Wait Danny come here!"

He turned around and walked over to him.

She pulled him down and pressed his ear up against her lips. "Thanks for everything you've done for me." She whispered.

He could feel something bubbling inside him. He had to leave, or he would burst from the sensation of her breath on his skin. He left, half heartedly waving to her behind him.

"See you tonight." She called.


	6. Chapter 6

Mindy sat there a bit longer, playing Candy Crush on her phone until she ran out of lives. She plotted out how she would go about asking out this handsome, rich doctor.

He opened the door. He was tall, with brown hair and these blue eyes that pierced straight through her. "Where is your husband?" He inquired, his sweet Brazilian accent making it hard to hold back a swoon.

"He isn't my husband." Mindy smiled.

"Well, your boyfriend then."

"Not my boyfriend."

"Oi."

"I am 100 percent single."

"Well, um," Dr. Marcuse hesitated. "I am not sure whether this will come as a blow or a blessing to you."

"What?" Mindy frowned.

"You're about a month pregnant."

"What?" Her voice boomed. "Excuse me?" The thought had not even occurred to her.

"You are about one month pregnant."

Mindy laughed. "Are you sure that you are certified as a doctor, sir? I am not pregnant."

"Well, actually, yes, you are."

"You have got to be kidding me?" She still didn't believe it. "Let me see those results."

He handed them to her. Her eyes glazed over them. _Holy shit._

"Um, I," Mindy began, but she cut herself off. "Can I leave? You can bill me to my house."

"Alright, you are free to go. If you could just call and schedule a follow up appointment that would be great." He left the room.

"Oh my god." Mindy breathed. She felt her throat close up. She rolled off of the chair and shakily moved to grad her stuff off of the counter in the corner of the office, but she tripped over Danny's bag, which was open, and sent its contents flying everywhere. She bent down to pick up the watch and pad of paper. _The watch. Wait a second that is the watch._ She glanced at the pad of paper. _Dinosaurs. Oh my god. No. This is not happening._ She felt like she was about to black out. She began rummaging through Danny's bag and found a crumpled up piece of paper. She read it.

_Dear Mindy,_

_I had an amazing time last night, though I have to admit I don't really remember much of it. I wish with every bone in my body that we could have more than just that one fleeting moment together but unfortunately, my present circumstances do not permit it. Don't worry, Mindy, I am not married or engaged or dating anyone. I just can't be with you. I hope that you had as good of a time last night as I did. To be honest, I really wish that this was meant to be, but I don't think that it is._

_Love,_

_Danny_


	7. Chapter 7

Danny pushed down the street, shoving strangers out of his way, breathing his jealousy out hard. He was crossing a street when his phone rang, and he glanced at it to see it was Mindys name than plummeted it back into his pocket without a second glance. He got on a bus.

"Excuse me young man."

He glanced up. A cripple-looking old woman stood gaping up at him. "Yes?" He asked irritably.

"You knocked me down back there." The woman said, her eyes transforming into little slits.

"And?"

"And that is very rude. No gentleman should act like that."

"Yeah, well, sorry; i am no gentleman." Danny watched as the old lady frowned indignantly. "What are you going to do, hit me with your purse?"

"Well i wasn't going to, but considering how rudely cliche that last remark was i think i will."

"No ma'am i am sorry, ow." He was caught off guard by the strength of the woman as she whacked him. "Stop that." He stood up and hustled to get off the bus right before it left the station.

He stood outside of the bus where it had unfortunately started to rain.

"Damn it." He muttered. It was only drizzling but he felt obliged to take shelter in the nearest store in order to protect his new jacket. He rushed into an antique shop. "Sorry," he said to the ladies at the counter, when he noticed their stares, "It's an ocean out there." Is that even an expression? He thought at the sight of the strange glances he received. Painfully aware of the judging eyes on his back, Danny turned and pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was lit up with a voice mail from Mindy. He pushed a series of buttons and then held up the phone to his ear.

"Hey, Danny. It's me; Mindy; from work; and life. I guess. I don't know. Um, i just wanted to let you know that you left your briefcase in the doctor's office. Don't worry i have it, i can bring it to you tonight. Um, i promise i won't rummage through your stuff."

There was a pause. It lasted a few seconds. Danny thought for a second the message might be over.

"And, um, Danny..."

Another long pause prompted Danny to sigh out of irritation.

"I don't know if you really care about this but; i don't really even know how to say it; um, i just have to come out with it don't it? Danny, i- Shit! It's raining. Hold on Danny, give me a second to get into my car. Where are my keys? Damn it. Ow rain in my eyes. Danny do you have my keys?"

Danny felt in his pocket and found Mindys keys; he hadn't even noticed he had been in such a rush to get out of there.

"Danny, if you have my keys can you bring them to me; i am in the parking lot behind the doctors office. You know what never mind, i don't really want to- Can you just bring them to work on Monday? But i need my car. Just take my car, i don't need it for the weekend. And tonight, about dinner; i am not feeling great so maybe we can skip the dinner. In fact let's call it off. Don't bother calling me, i am fine. Fine."

Another long pause occurred during which Danny almost hung up.

"Damn it, i stepped in poop. Oh sorry. Bye Danny. I, um, bye."

Danny waited for a few seconds before hanging up the phone. He felt bad. He glanced out the window and felt a small wave of relief when he saw it was no longer raining.

He left the store and began making his way back to the doctors office.


	8. Chapter 8

"Damn it." Mindy bent down to examine her shoe._ These were new._ She straightened herself out and began walking again. Her heart was racing as she strode purposefully down the sidewalk towards the bus station, wiping rain out of her face every few seconds, taking note of cliche this moment was. _If only Ryan Gosling would come running down the street in the opposite direction to tell me how much he loved me and then we would kiss in the rain and it would be..._ Mindy cut off her train of thought, because the person who popped into her head while imagining this fantasy was not Ryan Gosling. She convinced herself that she didn't even know if her theory was true yet. _It is still just a theory. I don't have proof. I don't have enough proof. I could just be pregnant with the baby of a complete stranger. Wow, i really don't know which is worse._

At this point the puddles were deep enough that the water was beginning to seep through her shoes. She sat on the bench and waited, wincing as she realized that the water from the wet bench was now soaking the back of her skirt When the bus finally arrived, she got on, paid the driver; seeing as she was not a regular rider and didn't have a bus pass, and took the seat of an old woman who was just getting off of the bus.

As the doors of the bus closed she leaned her drenched head onto the window, exhaling a sigh of relief.

"Wait!" Shrieked someone outside of the bus.

Mindy turned to see the same spirited looking old woman whom she had replaced in her current seat barking loudly at the bus driver to open the door.

Moments later the women hustled up the stairs and strode up to Mindy. "Can you hand me my umbrella and purse i left it on the floor? I'm so forgetful; I must be getting old." She chuckled. "I am going to have to tell my gynecologist about this."

Ignoring the second part of what she had just heard, Mindy glanced and the floor picked up the purse and handed it to the woman. "There is no umbrella down there." She said apologetically.

"Did you steal it?"

"Excuse me?"  
"I said, did you steal it?" The woman repeated, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Oh my, i had better check and make sure you didn't steal any money."

"Ma'am i would never-"

"Oh my goodness gracious." The woman glanced back up at Mindy "I could have sworn i had a check for a hundred and twenty dollars to give to my doctor in here."

"I-"

"Give me back my money."

"But i don't have-"

"Excuse me sir, this woman stole a check and an umbrella from me."

"But i-"

"Empty your pockets."

"Listen, Ma'am, i didn't-"

"Sneaky little bitch. Where are you hiding it?"

"Listen here you little-" Mindy started to explode.

"I am going to ask you to leave the bus." The bus driver interrupted her. "You're causing a disruption."

"I'll take your seat" The women said pointedly. "I have to go home and write another check. You better hope that i find my umbrella, or i will report it missing. And don't even think about cashing my money. I get notified by email whenever money is withdrawn. First that man knocking me down and now this. Wait until i tell my lawyer."

Mindy pushed off of the bus silently, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "I'll just walk." She muttered quietly to herself. "It's only 15 blocks." The tears began spilling out and rolling down her cheeks. "I wish i had stolen your umbrella." _I really do. Wow, i am just having an unlucky day. First... Holy shit, i'm pregnant. Oh my god, my life is over. Over. I am going to die alone. Wait, how did i deduce that from being pregnant. Oh my god. Danny. I have to tell him that I know it was him, and then i have to tell him. Hey, who knows, with my luck he'll get hit by a bus before i get the chance to tell him. You know what, maybe i don't have to tell him. Oh shit, car. Maybe i should stop thinking and start paying attention to where i am walking. _And that was when Mindy realized that she was lost.  



End file.
